System for adjusting the character carriers of a visual register



6 Sheets-Sheet 1 0. K. TSCHUMI SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING THE CHARACTER CARRIERS OF A VISUAL REGISTER ZTI Jan. 20, 1970 Filed June 1. 1966 INVENTOR OTTO TSCHUMI ATTORNEYS BY I MW, 8.44/ wafiwlfl Fig. 5

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SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTINGIHE CHARACTER CARRIERS OF -A VISUAL REGISTER Filed June 1. 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 3 9m mi +N m N +w m i 9n 2 2 m NON E ID HNh-O NW NH mm NKN NM, NAH Hm mm mm mm PMQ H l m y FE mm" N0. WT EQ Mt Q Q m R m y E Jan. 20, 1970 c. K. TSCHUMII SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING THE CHARACTER CARRIERS OF .A .VISUAL REGISTER Filed June 1, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 i mi mdx . QR n? MN; I M IM f MW:

El i k 1m. 20, 1970 0. K. TsHUM| 3,491,354

SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING THE CHARACTER CARRIERS OF A VISUAL REGISTER Filed June 1, 1966 R 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 ;L I V? V3 o v v4 /:-4 FM Fig 5 k N r Jan." 20, 1970 o.v K. TSCHUMI SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING THE CHARACTER CARRIERS OF A VISUAL REGISTER Filed June 1, 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 m N T oat J m J m any Q: m BEN .GN E M; E D Em mm Em mm mm mm mm mm mm m 3 Q E m E Jan. 20, 1970 0. K. TSCHUMI SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING THE CHARACTER CARRIERS OF A VISUAL REGISTER Filed June 1', 1966 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 O 8 x x x x x x x x T. u T .u S 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 m H H mm 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 w H 2 United States Patent 3,491,354 SYSTEM FOR ADJUSTING THE CHARACTER CARRIERS OF A VISUAL REGISTER Otto Karl Tschumi, Bergstrasse 12, Solothurn, Switzerland Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 221,181, Sept. 4, 1962. This application June 1, 1966, Ser. No. 554,551 Claims priority, application Switzerland, Sept. 7, 1961, 10,370/61 Int. Cl. G08b 23/00 US. Cl. 340-324 3 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An information display system composed of groups of character bearing carriers wherein the groups are adjusted to display composite information. Keyed information circuits and associated means place said carriers into defined starting positions and simultaneously move said carriers until the character to be displayed is visible. Means are included for delaying the start of each carrier by an amount of time inversely proportional to the duration of its movement so that the movement of all carriers of a group terminates substantially simultaneously.

This application is a continuation-in-part of application Scr. No. 221,181, now abandoned.

Visual registers using movable character carriers, as well as mechanisms for setting these character carriers, are already well known. Among such character indicators, systems are known wherein the characters or symbols on the character carrier are optically projected individually upon a frosted plate. In other designs the character carrier consists of a drum, where the characters are mounted on the drum periphery, or upon turning panels therearound, and are then displayed behind window openings. In installations having a multitude of character indicators arranged in rows and columns, such as are used for the indication of stock market transactions or flight schedule information, the character indicators are normally posi tioned by rows whereby the character indicators of a particular row are adjusted by a mechanism common to all the rows. In most such installations the procedure is that each character indicator to be repositioned, because of the fact that the initial or start position is not known to the central control station, is first brought into a defined synchronizing position b means of a movement referred to as resetting. The character carriers to be positioned are then actuated by the control station, from this synchronizing position by means of a movement required position. It is common practice that the control station possess a single means available for this positioning, which initially simultaneously actuates all the character carriers that have to be repositioned, and the actuation of these character carriers which have reached the required position is then terminated, so that these character carriers remain stationary. With character indicators operating on the principle of optical projection, the projection lamp is de-energized during the resetting and the positioning, so that the interim phases of the repositioning cannot be observed and the observer is not disturbed by an indicating system that is in the phase of repositioning. With an indicating system where the character carriers are directly visible, the visibility of the repositioning movements can have a disturbing effect and in particularly unfavorable cases can also lead to errors, whereby at a time when part of the character carriers of one line are still in movement, the already fixed characters of this line would give an erroneous picture. In order to avoid any erroneous "ice readings caused by the character indicators being temporarily in the synchronizing position, it is advantageous, instead of making visible a character at the synchronizing position, to provide a blank position by which means the mentioned disadvantages are partially eliminated.

The present invention accomplishes an improvement in the total impression of indicating devices employing directly visible symbols or characters during repositioning. It concerns an information .display system 'with simultaneous repositioning of at least a group of several movable character carriers, for the purpose of indicating groups of characters. This information display system is composed of groups of carriers, each of which bears characters made visible at respective positions of each carrier. The carriers of one group are adjusted to display composite information at a display position, each carrier being controlled to move at a uniform rate past said display position. Said information display system comprises a plurality of keyed information circuits; first means for placing the carriers into defined starting positions upon initiation of an information display adjustment; second means, common to all of said carriers, for moving, upon actuation, said group of carriers simultaneously past said display positions; and third means, during the moving of said group of carriers, individual to each of said carriers, each third means being controlled by one of said plurality of keyed information circuits for controlling the duration of the movement effected by said second means for each of the carriers. The start of each carrier is delayed by an amount of time inversely related to the duration of its movement, such that the movements of the carriers of said group terminate substantially simultaneously.

The invention will be described in terms of an illustrative example of the invention, wherein only those circuits are illustrated that are essential for understanding the features of the invention, in order not to complicate the description unnecessarily, and to concisely set out the invention.

FIG. 1 is a partially schematic block diagram of a system comprising character indicators, arranged in rows and columns and operated by means of step motors, keyboards and control mechanisms to position the character indicators according to the character combination introduced through a keyboard, indicating also the parts of the mechanism that are presented in detail in FIGS. 3, 4 and 5.

FIG. 2 indicates the co-operative assembly and interconnection of apparatus as in FIGS. 3, 4, and 5.

FIG. 3 is a circuit. diagram of the common portion of the control system to which all the character indicators are connected for actuation, designated in FIG. 1 with AT.

FIG. 4 shows the control circuits associated with each column of character indicators, designated in FIG. 1 with ET and ES.

FIG. 5 shows circuits associated with each one of the rows, marked in FIG. 1 with FIG. 5, including two character indicators schematically, of which one is shown in detail.

FIG. 6 is a relay operational diagram illustrating various switching procedures which may be followed, and

FIGS. 7 and 8 each show by diagram two sequences, and by way of these four typical cases, explanation of the operation of the character indicators is simplified.

GENERAL DESIGN OF A DISPLAY SYSTEM In the following description the relay windings are designated with capital letter initials, wherein different relays with a similar function are differentiated by Roman numerals. Similarly, different windings of the same relay are distinguished by Roman numerals. The mentioned notations for relays that have more than one winding are marked within the symbol for the winding. The relay contacts are marked with small letters that correspond to those of the windings, whereof the different contacts on the same relays are distinguished by Arabic numbers. All the large arrows that are not described in detail are connected to a suitable supply of battery voltage.

In the general diagram of FIG. 1 nine character indicators ZM are represented which are arranged in three lines or rows and three columns. Each of these character indicators thus belongs to one column and can be positioned by the column circuit ES concerned, which in turn is controlled by the keyboard ET. This column circuit with keyboard is shown in detail in FIG. 4 and will be further described later on. Three row circuits ZI, ZII, ZIII with a line key ZT each are furthermore provided, by means ofwhich always one of the three character indicators of a. column, i.e. the one appurtenant to a definite row, can be connected to its column circuit. In other words, the information to be positioned on a definite row of character indicators is keyed on the column circuits, and by the contacts z of a definite row circuit the column circuits are connected with the character indicators of the row concerned, so that these character indicators can be repositioned. A row circuit is shown in detail in FIG. 5, and will be more closely described later on.

The row circuit for row 1, likewise shown in FIG. 5, shows the key TZI symbolically indicated in FIG. 1, which connects relay ZI with the circuit v2 running to the common part AT. A contact Z15 of this relay connects the winding of this relay with the circuit v3 running to the common part. The release magnets PM of a row of character indicators are selectively connected to circuit v4 by the contact zI1 of said relay ZI, whereas the motor coil EM is connected with the circuit v5 of the common part through the contact 212 of the same relay ZI, singly associated with said coil. The connections of the motor coils of the remaining character indicators and the release magnets are shown in FIG. 1. The contact 213 applies the character indicator of the first row and the second column to the column circuit ES of the second column, and contact zI4 does the same with regard to the character indicator ZM of the first row and the third column. The relay ZII of the row circuit of the second row efiects 1 with its four contacts 2111, KHZ, 2113 and 1114 the same for the second row, and the construction of the third row circuit 2111 will now be easily understood after these statements.

The already mentioned column circuits ESalso called keyed information circuitsand the appurtenant keyboards ET are represented in detail in FIG. 4. The keys ET therein serve for the initiation of the indication of 12 different characters and the key ETB for the indication of an empty position. To each of these keys belongs a relay TITB, each having three or four contacts t. The exciter circuit of this relay runs through said keys, and each relay is connected by one of its own contacts Il-tbl to the circuit v1 coming from the common part. A relay P can be connected through contacts tI3 tIV3 and tVII3-tX3 to the various K-circuits. Contact 1113 applies relay P to circuit G. The numbers of circuits K therein correspond to the ordinal numbers of that relay the contacts of which are connected to these circuits. Thus, the contacts tIII3 and tIX3 are e.g. connected to circuit K3, 9.

Between the various N-circuits and circuit G there lie the contacts tI4tb4, the numbers in the N-circuits corresponding again to the ordinal numbers of that relay the contacts of which are connected to the circuit concerned, the contacts tIII4, tIV4, tIX4 and tX4 are e.g. connected to circuit N3, 4, 9, 10.

Further contacts of the various T-relays lie between the circuits E and Z, on the one hand, and the rest contact p of said relay P, on the other hand. Therein are connected the contacts tII2, zIV2, IVI2 and th to circuit E+, the contacts tVIII2, tX2 and tXII2 to circuit Z, the contacts tI2, 11112 and NZ to circuit E, and the contacts 4 W112, ZIXZ and tXI2 to circuit Z|-. The contact p connects these contacts with the circuit v5 which runs to all the step motors of the character indicators of the first column. Column circuits as those described are provided for each of the three columns.

Common circuits are moreover provided associated just once to the whole system, which are designated by AT n FIG. 1 and are represented in detail in FIG. 3. The construction of these common circuits will be described in the following.

This general or common portion comprises as the main parts an impulse delivery device, consisting of the relays I, X and Y, and further comprises an impulse counter including relays AI-AXIII. The relay J is a self-interrupting impulse relay, in which two windings are cross-connected whereby condenser C is placed in series with the winding I.

The relays AIAXIII form a relay counter chain, each of the relays having two windings I and II. The winding I of each relay (with the exception of relay AI) is connected to one of two collecting circuits through a contact (aII, aIII, etc.) of the relay preceding in the row, all the relays with an odd ordinal number being connected to the one, and those with an even ordinal number to the other circuit. The two collecting circuits may be alternately applied to a common circuit 'by contact yl through contact i1. Through a working contact (012, etc.) of tis won, the winding II of each relay A is likewise connected to said common circuit. This common circuit is applied to ground in dependence on the mutual position of the relays ZGII, U and UII.

A relay ZG can be operated through circuit v2; two release-delayed relays ZGI and ZGII are furthermore provided, of which the first comprises in its energizing circuit contacts of the relays ZG, UII, AVI and its own contact, whereas the second can be operted by the contact zgIZ. Relay ZGII applies by its contact zgIIZ ground to circuit v3. In definite positions of the contacts of the relays Y, AVIII, AIX and U11 the circuit v4 is applied to ground. The circuits v2, v3 and v4 run to all the row circuits (FIG. 5).

The function of the relays U, UI and UII is dependent on these relays themselves and on the relays ZGII, J and AXIII. The battery B, the center of which is grounded, delivers through the contacts y5, y6, 14115 and uII6 either +potential or -potential to the four circuits E+, Z, E, and Z-{.

On each of these sources the polarity changes with each movement of the relay Y, that is, with each impulse of the relay J. Before relay UII has switched over, the sources E+ and E from one side and the sources 2-}- and Z- from the other side have like polarities, and after the attraction of relay UII, the sources E+ and Z+ fr m one side and the 7B- and Z- from the other side are each connected together. The significance of the various sources is discussed later in detail.

Through the contact UII7 the circuit G and the circuits K4, 10, K3, 9 K2, 8 and K17 are connected to ground. The K-circuits can be separated again from this ground by the contacts of the relays A11, A111, AIV and AV. The three lelays N0, N11 and NIV can be energized by applying ground to the three circuits N5, 6, 11, 12 N3, 4, 9, 10 and N1, 2, 7, 8. The circuits V1 can be applied to ground through the contacts ZGII4 and ZGI3. The circuit V1, G, all the K-circuits, all the N-circuits and the E- and Z-circuits run to all the column circuits which are shown in FIG. 4 and will be discussed in the following.

The various character indicators designated by ZM in FIG. 1, are represented in FIG. 5 with those details which are in connection with the invention.

Only parts associated with the invention are presented. The character carrier upon which the various characters are mounted for display in sequence by the character indicator during its rotation, is shown in a side view, and it is not obvious from that figure how the characters are displayed. This character carrier has the form of a drum and has a driving gear on the exterior rim. It may either carry the characters to be indicated in a conventional way upon the cylindrical surface to cause, at all times, one of the characters to be visible through the window, or may have movably mounted plates connected to the drum such that the characters to be indicated turn over at the rotation of the drum as pages in a book. This character carrier 3 indicates 14 positions, designated with the numbers 112, SI and $11. In the positions 110 for example, ten different digits might be indicated, in the positions 11 and 12 letters or other symbols may be indicated, and in the positions SI and SH, hereinafter denote t as synchronizing positions, no characters are displayed at the window, these being blank positions. The character indicator is actuated by a step motor having a stator 1 and a rotor 2.

The rotor contains a permanent magnet which is turned half a rotation counterclockwise each time the coil EM experiences changed polarity of excitation. The rotor carries a rim gear, which meshes with the rim gear of the rotable character carrier 3. The ratio chosen is 1:7, so that the character carrier at each step, which is a half rotation of the rotor 2, advances a four-teenth of a rotation in a clockwise direction. At each step in movement of the character carrier a succeeding character on the character carrier is displayed. The character carrier has opposite ears 5 and 6, and a spring 7 has a pin 8 projecting into the path of these two cars. As long as the ears are against pin 8, the character carrier cannot be advanced by the step motor. These two positions are the two synchronizing positions SI and SII. In FIG. 5 the character carrier is depicted in position SI. In a character indicator ZM a release magnet FM is included which, when excited, lifts the spring 7, so that the character carrier is released and can then be rotated by the step motor. As can easily be seen when the rotor 2 completes seven steps or three and a half rotations, the character carrier 3 is rotated from one synchronizing position to another. Since this number of rotations does not constitute a whole member, the rotor is not stationed in the same position in both synchronizing positions. Because the step motor is a polarized system, an impulse to be given to the step motor in order to rotate the character carrier from position SI to position 1, is different in polarity from an impulse which must be introduced to rotate the character carrier from position SII into position 7.

By means of the two synchronizing positions, the characters on the character carrier are subdivided into two groups.

The positions 1-6 comprise a first group and the positions 7-12 a second group.

FUNDAMENTAL QUESTIONS CONCERNING THE REPOSITIONING OF THE CHARACTER INDI- CATORS If a character indicator has to be repositioned from an undetermined position, it is connected with the control mechanism AT, common to all the indicators, by way of the particular row contact z and the particular column circuit ES. First means of the control mechanism first brings the character carrier into a synchroning position (resetting) from which it can be brought into the specific required position by second and third means counting the impulses that are channeled to the step motor, the number of which depending from the key pressed in the respective column (positioning). Because the number of steps needed for resetting is undertermined, a number of impulses must be fed to the step motor under all cases, sufiicient to complete a revolution of the character carrier. Due to the arrangement of the two synchronizing positions, it is possible to reduce the number of positioning impulses that follow the resetting steps to a number of impulses that will correspond only as a maximum to one-half of a revolution of the character carrier, as long as the character carrier, before its positioning, is put each time to that synchronizing position which precedes the desired displayed position, i.e. as long as the character carrier is put to that synchronizing position which precedes that character group into which the to-be-displayed character belongs. By the described arrangement of the synchronizing positions in the different positions of the step motor, it is possible, with the use of only one release magnet FM, in a manner which is described in more detail further on, to place the character carrier in the desired one of the two synchronizing p sitions.

WORKING MANNER OF THE CONTROL CIRCUITS For the repositioning of any particular row of character indicators by said second and third means, the particular key which corresponds to the character that should appear in the particular column has to be depressed on each of the three column keyboards ET (FIG. 1), marking that character in the corresponding information circuit ES. The characters marked with the keys ET are then associated with a particular row and the character indicators of the row are repositioned.

A column circuit is depicted in FIG. 4. If, for example, key ET4 is depressed, the relay TIV is energized, closing contacts tIVl, tIV2, tIV3 and tIV4. This relay then holds its osition above contact zgII4 which is common to all the keyboards (FIG. 3), the circuit v1 and its own contact tIVl. Corresponding T-relays also are then activated and held for the keys of the rest of the columns which are not indicated. By means of contact tIV2, the source E+ is connected to circuit v5 over the contact p.

If now, for example, key ZTI is depressed for the first row (FIG. 5), row relay ZI, as well as relay ZG (FIG. 3), common to all the rows, which is in series to it, is energized via the circuit v2. Relay ZG then energizes through its contact zg the relay ZGI, which then holds itself via the contact zgIl and also puts under voltage the relay ZGII via the contact zgI2. Relay ZGII holds the relay ZI with its contact zgII2 via circuit v3 and the contact (FIG. 5). This relay ZI connects via its contact zIl all the release magnets PM of the character indicators of the corresponding row to the circuit v4 and via contact 212 the coil EM of the step motor to the circuit v5. Similarly, relay ZI then connects the remaining character indicators of the same row to each of the other corresponding column circuits not here illustrated.

By the contact zgIIl, the relays I X and Y which comprise the impulse generating device and the relays AI-- AXIII, U, UI and U11 that comprise the impulse-countingdevice, are put into operation.

This circuit operates in a known fashion such that when voltage is applied, relay I pulls up through its winding II, in delayed action, and condenser C is charged. During the pull-up of the relay, contact i2 opens whereby the condenser discharges through winding I and thereby holds-in the relay. After the condenser is discharged the relay I drops out and the action starts anew. The circuit including relays X and Y is a frequency-division-circuit for the relay J. At the first operation of contact i4, relay X pulls up via the normally closed contact 4, and by its contact x, causes a closed circuit for the winding I of the relay Y. This winding is shortcircuited through the now closed normally open circuit of contact i4, so that relay Y cannot pull up. If relay 1 now returns its contact i4, the mentioned shortcircuit is eliminated so that relay Y can now pull up. It throws its contact y4 and energizes winding II of relay Y, so that now both windings of Y and the winding of X are under current and both relays are pulled up. If relay I now throws the contact i4 for the second time into its actuated circuit position, due to the thrown contact y4, relay X can no longer hold in, whereby, the opened x-contact causes the winding I of relay Y to become currentless, but relay Y holds in by its winding II and the closed contact 4. The next release of relay I causes relay Y also to drop, so that the circuit again is in the position indicated on the drawing. These conditions can be easily followed on the relay diagram of FIG. 6.

The relay chain, consisting of relays AI-AXIII, functions now due to the movements of relay J and Y. Their method of operation is also evident from the relay diagram of FIG. 6, where the pulled-up and released condition of relays Y and AI-AXIII are depicted in dependence on the impulse generated by relay J. On the assumption that relay ZGII is pulled up and thereby contact zgIIl is closed, relay AI is energized through its winding 1, after the first activation of the normally closed contact side of y1. By contact aIl it thereby prepares a circuit for winding I of relay AII. When contact i1 opens, contact yl trips over, according to previous description, whereby relay AI holds in by its winding II and contact all. When contact i1 again closes, relay All is energized, which locks in by itself and prepares by way of contact aIIl the activation of relay AIII. These switching sequencies continue similarly, a further relay A being actuated at each impulse of relay J, until the chain arrives at relay AXIII. During the 8th impulse of relay J, the circuit v4 is grounded over the contacts 6, aVIII3 and aIX3, and during the following impulse is again ungrounded by the opening of contact aIX3 as relay AIX operates.

When relay AXIII has pulled in, a current circuit is formed for relay U, after the drop out of relay J, by way of contacts zgII3, i3 and aXIIIS, whereby relay U pulls up and holds itself through contact 112. Relay U then opens contact u1 to break the holding current circuit of relays AI-AXIII, whereby all of these relays drop out. At the next pull up of relay I, relay UI is energized over the contacts i3 and a3, which in turn holds itself through its contact all. After the next drop of relay 1, relay UII can be energized through the contacts i3 and all, whereby it holds itself over the contact r1114. With the activation of relay UII, the circuit v4 is again grounded by means of contact 11113, and this time for the whole duration of the positioning program. Relay UII furthermore bridges by its own contact 14111 the open-contact of ul, whereby the chain consisting of relays AI-AXIII is put again under voltage and starts to cycle again from the beginning. The chain this time runs only up to relay AVI, whereby at the 20th impulse of relay J, due to the now closed contact uII8, the contact i2 is shunted by contact aVI4, whereafter relay I remains in a pulled-up position and the progressive movement of the relay X and Y and of the relay chain terminates. Relay AVI also opens contact aVI3 and relay ZGI drops out, which also, in turn, drops out the time delay relay ZGII by opening contact zgI2. The relay ZGII now drops out the relays I, X and Y and the chain of the relays A by opening contact zgIIl, and contact 23 113 relay U is dropped. These steps can also be followed on the diagram of FIG. 6.

THE RESETTIN G The resetting of the row of the character indicators to be repositioned is established by said first means, depicted together with the second means in FIG. 3 and described in the description of the general control circuits. The character indicators of the respective row are connected with said common first and second means by the contacts 2 of relay Z of the respective row. Relay ZGII with its contact zgIII (FIG. 3) starts the common circuits to generate impulses for resetting and positioning the indicators of the selected row.

The resetting will be effected during the first fourteen impulses, that is before relay UII is pulled in.

carrier has to be reset, must be chosen according to the character that is to be displayed. For this purpose, as

outlined in the description of the character indicators, the synchronizing position SI, is used for the to-be-displayed characters 16 as the starting position, and the synchronizing position SII for the to-be-displayed characters 7-12.

Based on the described condition that to achieve a movement of the character carrier from position SI to position 1, an impuse of a ditferent polarity has to be supplied to the step motor, in co-operation with actuating the release magnet, than for the movement of a character carrier from position SII to position 7, it is possible to determine, merely by the selection of the source of the stepping impuse, the particular synchronizing position in which the respective character indicator will be positioned after the termination of the resetting program. Since, as it is obvious from FIG. 3, and as it also was previously mentioned, relay UII has not been pulled in at the beginning of the repositioning, the two sources of impulses E+ and E, and Z+ and Z respectively are mutually connected by means of contacts uIIS and uII6 respectively, and are therefore considered in this case solely as two sources of impulses, further described as E and Z. If a character indicator has to be reset into position SI, because the to-be-positioned character belongs to the first group (characters 1-6), it must be connected to the source E, and when the to-be-positioned character belongs to the second group (characters 7- 12), to source Z.

The actions taking place during the resetting can be followed by means of FIGS. 7 and 8. On the left margin of FIGS. 7 and 8, the positions of a character carrier of one character indicator are denoted with St. The two synchronizing positions, that is, the positions, in which the mechanical locking occurs, are denoted with S1 and SII. Between each of the two positions is indicated the polarity which the impulse must have in order to switch the character carrier from one of these positions into the other. At the top of the line of FIG. 7, the impulses that aer supplied from the two contact-s y5 and y6 to the two sources E and Z, are denoted with successive numbers. Below the numbers is indicated, furthermore, the polarity which each source displays during the respective impulses. In the line PM the times at which the release magnet is activated are denoted with M. This takes place, as already indicated in the description of the general control circuits, in the sequence of the resetting program at the 8th impulse.

The symbols x and 0 denote the respective two arbitrarily chosen cases of the movements of the character carrier in dependence on the number of impulses furnished by the contacts 3 5 and 3 6. In both cases, the initial position of the character carrier is position 2, denoted R.

As far as the resetting movements are concerned, the examples described in FIGS. 7 and 8 include the same movements, so that for explanation of the resetting, it 'sufiicies to consider FIG. 7 only. In the case denoted 0 it is assumed that the character indicator should be reset into the synchronizing position SI, therefore requiring connection to source E. In the case denoted x the character indicator should be positioned into position SII and requires a connection to source Z.

As the first example, a case denoted 0 is considered in which the appropriate character indicators are connected to impulse source E. In this case the first impulse that is emitted from the source is negative. Consequently, the character carrier is switched from position 2 to 3, since such an impulse is competent and necessary for this purpose, as can be seen from the minus sign between the positions 2 and 3. At the following alternating poled impulses, the character carrier is advanced each time by one step, until it reaches with the 5th impulse the position SII. At this point the character carrier cannot advance more, since the. locking lever pin 8 (FIG. 5) prevents any further movement. The character carrier therefore remains stationary on position SII during the 6th and 7th impulses. During the 8th impulse, as previously mentioned, the release magnet FM (FIG. 5) is operated. Because the 8th impulse from the source E is positive, and such a positive impulse is that needed for the forward stepping of the character indicator from position 811 into position 7, the synchronizing position 511 is now passed over and the character carrier rotates into position 7. With further impulses the character carrier continues to rotate until it reaches at the 14th impulse from the control system, the position SI, which terminates the resetting.

n the other hand, in the case denoted x, the character indicator is connected to one of the sources Z and the respective character indicator is moved into position 811. The starting position is again the position 2. The first impulse from the control system is in this case a position impulse. Since a negative impulse is necessary to advance the character indicator from position 2 to 3, the character indicator remains on position 2. At the second impulse, which is anegative impulse, the character indicator starts to move. With additional impulses from the control system, the character indicator advances further to position SII, which is reached with the 6th impulse. There, further movements are blocked by the mechanical locking, so that it remains stationary on position $11 in spite of further impulses emitted from the control system. During the 8th impulse the release magnet FM is activated. Since the 8th impulse is a negative impulse in this case, and since a positive impulse is required to advance the character indicator from position 511 into position 7, the character indicator remains stationary in spite of the fact that the mechanical locking release magnet was operated. At the 9th impulse from the control system, the polarity condition for advancing is fulfilled, but since the release magnet -FM has already returned to its normal unoperated position, the mechanical locking is active again, so that the character indicator cannot be further moved with additional impulses, and thereby remains in the synchronizing position 811 until the 14th impulse, that is, up to the end of the resetting program.

From the description of the two examples of FIG. 7, it can be seen that with the choice of the source (E or Z), with which a character indicator is connected, regardless of its initial position, it is determned in which synchronizing position (S1 or SII) the character carrier Will be found at the completion of the resetting program of impulses emitted from the control system.

THE POSITIONING The positioning is established by the same first and second means, depicted in FIG. 3, which eifect the resetting. The connections between the common circuits (first and second means) and the keyed information circuits (FIG. 4), on the one hand, and the character indicators of a row (FIG. on the other hand, has been described with the resetting.

As of now, all the character indicators of a row requiring repositioning are in one of the two synchronizing positions, the positioning program starts with the pull-up of relay UII in the common control system, as described previously in the description of the general control circuits. This positioning program includes maximally six impulses. As already mentioned, relay UII (FIG. 3) grounds the circuit v4 and keps it grounded, so that the release magnets of the respective r w are operated during the entire duration of the positioning program. Relay UII by way of its contact uII7 grounds the circuit to the contacts aII3aV3. These normally c osed contacts now ground the various circuits K, belonging to said third means, that connect to the column circuits. In each column or keyed information circuit, in which a character key ET1-4, 7-10, or ETB was depressed, a relay P, also belonging to said third means is connected through one of the circuits K, via the respective contact I, that corresponds to the depressed key, to ground. Each circuit K relates to two positions which are indicated for each cirposition SII. Due to the closing of the contact uII7, the

relays P, except those in the columns where one of the keys ET5, 6, 11, or 12 were depressed, are energized over the contacts a113, aIII3, a'IV3 and aV3 and disconnect, by opening their normally closed contacts, the established connection during the resetting program, betweeen the voltage sources and the character indicators, so that only the character indicators of those columns in which one of the keys ETS, 6, 11 or 12 were depressed, will remain connected. After the elapse of the first im pulse of the positioning program (one impulse after the pulling-in of relay UII), relay AII is pulled in an opens its contact a113, disconnecting the circuit K4, 10. With the next impulse, the circuit K3, 9 is disconnected a.s.o., in other words, the K-circuits are disconnected after a certain individual delay time. It therefore results that the delay time from the beginning of the positioning of the character indicators to the disconnection of a particular K circuit is inversely related to the necessary rotation time of the character carriers. As in the keyed information circuits ES (FIG. 4), the contacts of the relays T connectdepending of the key depressed in the respective columnthe relay P of the respective column individually to one of the K-circuits, the moment of the releasing of relay P depends on the depressed key. The relation between the a-contacts and the circuits K is hereby so chosen, that the circuits K corresponding to indicator positions, for which the character carrie has to be rotated a greater amount, are disconnected sooner than such circuits corresponding to positions for which the carrier has to be rotated a lesser amount.

As will become evident in the course of further description, it will depend, in addition to the choice of the impulse source to which the character indicator is connected, also upon the choice among the circuits K to the one of which relay P is connected, to determine into which position the character indicator of the respective column is actuated.

At the start of the positioning program, that is, after the relay UII has been activated, therefore only these character indicators are connected to one of the impulse sources which are to reach one of the positions 5, 6, 11 or 12, and the rest of the character indicators are disconnected by their respective relays P. The positions 5, -6, 11 and 12 are those positions, for which the character carrier has to be rotated to the furthermost extent, from the two synchronizing positions. By further generation of positioning impulses, when the circuits K are disconnected from ground, the relays P, connected to the respective circuits K, release and thus connect the corresponding character indicators with the impulse sources.

From the foregoing it is evident, that every character indicator is individually connected with one of the impulse sources after an individual time delay, depending on the character which has to be indicated by the respective indicator. This time delay is inversely related to the duration of its movement. After relay AV is pulled up, all the relays P have dropped out, except that of the columns in which the key ETB was depressed to actuate corresponding relays TB. The last-mentioned character indicators are the ones which do not indicate any characters and therefore they are the ones which stay in the synchronizing position. The character indicators that are connected to the impulse sources are operated further until the positioning program is terminated and the generation of impulses via relay Y ceases. This Will be the case, according to the description of the general control circuits, when the relay AVI is energized and relays U and ZG release, whereby between the instants of the release of relays ZGI and ZGII, the connection v1 is temporarily disconnected from ground by the action of contacts zgI3 and zgII4, whereafter the pulled-up relays T also release. The contact zgII2 opens the holding current circuit for the row relay ZI. Thereby all the circuits are again in the off-position and the character indicators of the pertinent row are set simultaneously. The keyboards, as well as the general current circuits, are now standing by for another positioning of any chosen row, Except for those character indicators which remain positioned from the beginning of the positioning program at one of the synchronizing positions, the character indicators are connected in sequence to one of the impulse sources by the release of the proper relay P, according to the characterthat has to be indicated, and are thus continuously operated. With the stoppage of the impulse generation, all the character indicators are then simultaneously shut down, showing the keyed indication.

Since each position of a character indicator corresponds to the specific polarity of the last impulse which brought the character indicator into this specific position, the to-be-indicated characters can be divided into two groups, namely the character group that has to receive as a final impulse a positive impulse, and the group that has to receive a negative impulse. In the following explanation these characters will be referred to simply as the positive and the negative characters. As can be seen from FIGS. 7 and 8, the characters 1, 3, 5, 8, 10 and 12 are negative, and the characters 2, 4, 6, 7, 9 and 11 are positive characters. Therefore, in order that all the character indicators of one row are able to stop at the same moment, the character indicators to be positioned must beconnected to the impulse sources in a fashion dependent upon whether a positive or a negative character has to be positioned.

In the first case the source must generate as its last impulse during the positioning program, a positive impulse and is therefore described as while in the other case the situation is reversed. This characteristic of each of the sources must be independent of the characteristic of the source for the same character indicator during the reset program. For the said reasons, it follows that there have to be four sources, namely E+, E, 2+ and Z-, whereby the capital letter is characteristic for the resetting program, and the polarity indication is indicative of the positioning program. Whereas the two sources having the same capital letter were mutually connected during the resetting program, during the positioning program the two sources with equal polarity signs are mutually connected by means of the pull-up of relay UII through the contacts uIIS and 14116. Thus, the twd positive and the two negative sources each form one group of sources which generate poled impulses which coincide chronologically but differ in their polarity. Due to these changes in the switching combination of the voltage sources, the polarity of the two sources 2+ and E is changed at the instant that coincides with the start of the positioning program, so that at this point, as it is also evident from FIGS. 6, 7 and 8, the 14th and 15th impulse, both display the same polarity; whereas at the remaining two voltage sources, the polarity of the impulses changes regularly during the transition from the resetting program to the positioning program. The four different types of the to-be-adjusted characters correspond to the four different sources of impulses. A character indicator is therefore always connected with that specific source that corresponds to the character to be set.

The differentiation between the characters 5 and 6 or 11 and 12 respectively, where, during their positioning, the character indicator is connected to the particular impulse source during the whole positioning program, is evident, only by the particular choice of a plus or minus voltage source, where in one case the to-be-adjusted character indicator starts to operate at the beginning of the position program, and in the other case the operation starts delayed by one impulse duration. For the positioning of the rest of the characters, a simplification in this sense would also be possible, which, however, would complicate the understanding of the described system; therefore such an arrangement was omitted.

The thus described relations are now clarified with a short example. According to the description of the column circuits, it is assumed that in the first column (FIG. 4), they key ET4 is depressed, and thereby the relay TIV is pulled up. Contact tIV3 connects relay P (FIG. 4) With the connection K4, 10 and by contact tIV2 the contact p of the first column is connected to the impulse source E+. The sequence of the positioning program can be followed on FIG. 7, where this case is marked with the symbol 0. The positioning program starts with the 15th impulse from the relay J, that is adjacent the vertical heavy-drawn line. A current then flows through the contacts uII7, a I13, the connection K4, 10 and the contact tIV3 to the relay P of the first column, sothat this character indicator remains stationary during the 15th impulse. As the positioning program continues, as was described earlier, the various A-relays are activated. During the activation of relay All, the relay P, which is pulled up through contact tIV3, is disconnected and released by the opening of contact aII3-, and thus connects the character indicator via circuit uS to the source E+. The 16th impulse from the source E+ is a positive impulse, but a negative impulse is necessary in order to switch the character indicator from position SI into position 1. The character indicator therefore remains stationary also during the 16th impulse and starts to rotate only at the 17th impulse to position 1. With the 20th impulse the positioning program is terminated, whereby the character indicator is in position 4 corresponding to the depressed key in the respective column. If now, key ET9 is depressed instead of key ET4, the positioning proceeds according'to the example marked with x in FIG. 7. The relay P of the respective column is then connected to connection K3, 9 through the contact tIX3, 1nd the character indicator is connected to the source Z+. Since a different source is eflective in this case, the character indicator is stopped at the synchronizing position 511 at the start of the positioning program. From there on the character indicator is operated and stopped in a similar way as at position 9.

FIG. 8 shows two examples for the positioning of negative characters, namely the characters 3 and 10, whereas the described examples in connection with FIG. 7 concerned the positioning of two positive characters. In 'FIG. 8 the key ET3 is depressed in the first case (0) and the key ET 10 in the second case (x). In the first case the relay P (FIG. 4) is connected to the connection K3, 9 by means of contact tIII3 and in the second case this relay is connected to the connection K4, 10 by means of contact tX3. Whereas the respective character indicator is connected in the first case to the impulse source E- by means of contact tIIIZ, since the to-beadjusted position has to be adjusted from the synchronizing position SI, in the second case the character indicator is connected to the circuit Z by means of contact tX2, since the to-be-adjusted position has to be adjusted in this case from the synchronizing position 811. The positioning sequence is similar to the steps described in FIG. 7 and therefore need not be repeated.

Summarizing, it has been stated that each of the relays P, the excitation of which depends on the one hand, upon the key depressed for the respective column (relays TI-TX) and, on the other hand, upon the reading of the counting device (relays AII-AV), interrupts the connections between the character indicator associated therewith and an impulse source in the beginning of the positioning movements of all of the character indicators and re-establishes the connection only after a delay period. The duration of this delay depends on the duration of the time required for positioning the respective character indicator in a reversed sense, so that the sum of the delay time and the positioning time is constant.

The foregoing shows that during the repositioning program, the character indicators are either shifted at the start of the program or at the second impulse, and locked after reaching one of the synchronizing positions that serve as a starting point for the positioning action, whereby during the positioning program the character indicators are activated by the various relays P, according to the to-be-adjusted characters, and thereby the to-be-adjusted indicators are set into motion sequentially and are stopped simultaneously, so that the positioning is terminated simultaneously.

So far, the characters and 6 or 11 and 12, respectively, are not set, for which cases all the impulses of the positioning program would be required, at least for the duration of two impulses, none of the character indicators is actuated atthe start of the positioning program, since the to-be-positioned character indicators will not at first be connected to their impulse sources. Thiswould amount to an unnecessary loss of time during the positioning. The previously not discussed actuation of relays N (FIG. 3) serves the purpose of eliminating such a time loss. These relays, which are active before the start of the positioning of a group of character indicators, start, at the beginning of the positioning program, by way of their contacts 1:11 and nIV, the switching of the A-relay chain between the beginning and the end point that has to be reached, so as to make it not necessary to run down through the Whole chain. The relays N are activated through the contacts of relays T of the keyed information circuits, namely the relay NIV (FIG. 3) is connected by Way of the contacts tI4, tII4, N114 and tVIII4 over the circuit N1, 2, 7 and 8. The relay N11 is excited in the same fashion, when the keys 3, 4, 9 or 10 are depressed and the relay NO starts when the keys 5, 6, 11 or 12 are depressed. The respective relays are activated by contact uII7 (FIG 3) by means of the circuit G and the mentioned keyboard contacts at the start of the positioning program. The number of impulses emitted can be reduced only by an even number of impulses, due to the alternating sequence of the emitted positive and negative impulses, this being the only way to reduce the impulse program without causing a disparity. The relay NIV limits the number of impulses generated by the relay chain to the greatest extent, since with the activation of this relay NIV, the relay chain starts with relay AIV. Relay NII causes through its contact nII the start with relay AII, whereby relay NO does not at all limit the program. These limitations are also indicated in FIG. 6 with the notations N11 and NIV, where it is indicated with the appropriate parenthesis which parts of the positioning program are skipped by' the activation of the appropriate relay. The contacts no, nII and nIV are switched in sequence in such a fashion that only that contact is active which limits to the least extent the skipping of the chain, so that the impulse generating system omits always the number of impulses which is at least as large as the number of impulses required, but not larger than one impulse over the number that are required to position that particular character indicator on the character carrier which has to be rotated to the furthest extent. In other Words, the total effect of the relays N is that they determine, before the start of the positioning of a group of character indicators, the longest positioning time required under consideration. Based upon this determination, they then control the relay chain and thereby also the P-relays in such a way that the time interval between the start of the initiation of the positioning program and the start of the forward movement of one of the character carriers by relay Y is such that it will depend upon this determination of the longest necessary positioning time, with the result, that the forward movement of the character carrier that requires the longest positioning time starts approximately at the beginning of the positioning program.

14 FINAL CONSIDERATIONS With the described steps it is possible to adjust groups of character indicators, where the positioning movements are carried out in a visible manner in such a fashion that the displayed text on one row disappears approximately simultaneously and the new text appears suddenly along the whole row, whereby the character indicators not in movement display no character at all, that is, they remain blank.

Of course, the invention is not limited to the explained example, since a number of other ways to adjust the character indicators according to the invention are possible. In particular, this can be done by means of electronic switching devices instead of relays. Since such installations demand more extensive descriptions than relay installations, the relay installation was chosen as an example.

In the event that the use of impulse sources of alternately opposite polarity is not employed, certain simplifications can be introduced in the feeding devices, whereby small disadvantages will have to be taken into consideration. This would include the fact that the positioning of one row of character indicators will not be accomplished completely simultaneously but will take place with a time difference of one impulse. Insofar as the impulses follow sequentially rapidly enough, such a positioning will be seen by the observer also asinstantaneous, and must therefore be considered as effected instantaneously for the purpose of the invention, according to the above explanations. The invention, of course, is also not restricted in any sense to the application of character indicators possessing two synchronizing adjustments, since this arrangement, although it enables a shortening of the positioning time, has no direct connection with the invention here under consideration. In no way whatsovere is this invention limited to the application of character indicators using step motors or to indicating systems in which all of the character indicators are returned by means of the same repositioning program, or thereafter positioned with the same positioning program. In installations in which the position of the character indicator is stored independently from the character indicator, or this position is known at the control center in any other fashion, the character indicators can be repositioned individually, whereby the repositioning and positioning programs can run simultaneously in parallel, and thereby substantial savings in time can be accomplished. The invention can also be applied for such cases which are not detailed here, since they would not clarify the idea of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. An information display system comprising a plurality of groups of character bearing carriers to display composite information, a display position for each carrier where at said characters are selectively made visible, each carrier being controlled to move at a uniform rate past said display position; said system comprising first means common to all of said carriers for moving the carriers; second means for connecting the carriers of a group to said first means for moving the carriers into defined starting positions; a plurality of keyed information circuits and third means, each controlled by one of said plurality of keyed information circuits, connecting each carrier of said group to said first means for a time period corresponding that required to move the respective carrier from its starting position to the position where the character to be displayed by that carrier is made visible; and means controlled by the keyed information circuits for delaying the start of each carrier movement by an amount of time inversely related to the duration of its movement, such that the movements of the carriers of said group terminate substantially simultaneously.

2. An information display system according to claim 1 further comprising a plurality of arresting means for each carrier, each arresting means having a starting position from which the carrier starts; said carriers being divided into as many groups as there are arresting means, each group being associated with a different one of said arresting means and corresponding starting positions; and means causing each carrier to be arrested at that starting position associated with the group of characters in which the character to be displayed is found.

3. An information display system according to claim 1 wherein said first means comprises individual pulse operated motor means associated with each of said carriers for moving said carriers in step-wise fashion; said motor means operating only upon receiving pulse that is of opposite sign from the preceding pulse; means for supplying positive and negative pulses to said motor means; said carriers being rotatable to move the characters to the display position, and each carrier having two starting positions, one requiring a positive pulse and the other a negative pulse to move the carrier therefrom,

and each character being associated with one of said two starting positions; and means connecting said keyed information circuits to bring a character on a selected carrier to the display position with not more than a onehalf revolution of the carrier from the starting position associated with that character.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,230,508 1/1966 Grijseels et a1. 340324 3,266,019 8/1966 Beckwith 340324 3,307,170 2/1967 Aoyama et a1. 340 324 JOHN W. CALDWELL, Primary Examiner M. M. CURTIS, Assistant Examiner U.S. Cl. X.R. 

